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Hospital and Health Research Institute Welcomes New Associate VP, Research and Chief Scientist

By Marcello Bernardo - February 2, 2019

This month marks the arrival of Dr. Chris Mushquash to the Thunder Bay Regional Health Sciences Centre (the Hospital) and the Thunder Bay Regional Health Research Institute (the Health Research Institute) as the new Associate Vice President Research and Chief Scientist (AVPR & CS). Dr. Mushquash will be a member of the Senior Leadership Council of the Hospital and the Executive Management Council of the Health Research Institute. Dr. Mushquash will report to the EVP Research, Quality & Academics.

This joint position will be responsible for promoting cross-disciplinary partnerships among researchers and creating a collaborative research environment within our Hospital, and with other key regional stakeholders. The AVPR & CS champions the development of the scientific directions for our Hospital and Health Research Institute, the conception and implementation of a strategic plan based on those directions, the recruitment and retention of scientific staff, and for the overall success of the Health Research Institute.

Dr. Mushquash is a Canada Research Chair in Indigenous Mental Health and Addiction, and an Associate Professor at Lakehead University, Department of Psychology and Northern Ontario School of Medicine, a Clinical Psychologist at Dilico Anishinabek Family Care, and Director of the Centre for Rural and Northern Health Research at Lakehead University.

He completed his pre-doctoral residency in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Manitoba, specializing in rural and northern clinical practice and his Ph.D. in clinical psychology in the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience at Dalhousie University in 2011.

In 2017, Dr. Mushquash was inducted in the Royal Society of Canada’s College of New Scholars, Artists and Scientists. He is currently the vice-chair of the Institute Advisory Board for the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health.

Dr. Mushquash is Ojibway and a member of Pays Plat First Nation.

“The experience that Dr. Mushquash brings to this position is undeniable,” says Jean Bartkowiak, President and CEO of the Hospital and CEO of the Health Research Institute. “We are confident that Dr. Mushquash will play a key role in helping us to achieve our strategic goals to advance patient care in Northwestern Ontario and ensure the continued success of the Health Research Institute.”

Dr. Mushquash formally began as Associate Vice President, Research and Chief Scientist on January 21st.